U.S. Failing to Stop Antibiotic Use in Livestock Feed
An expert panel is warning that regulators and agricultural producers have failed to slow the use of antibiotics in livestock. A landmark study from the Pew Charitable Trust in 2008 called on producers to stop adding antibiotics to livestock feed in order to boost animal growth. But a 14-member panel convened by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future says an “appalling lack of progress” has been made in the five years since that report. Scientists have warned that the allowance of antibiotics in animals ends up weakening their effectiveness in humans. An estimated 80 percent of antibiotics used in the United States are consumed by farm animals.
Scientists Now 95% Certain Climate Change Caused by Humans
The world’s top climate scientists have unveiled their strongest warning to date about the disastrous consequences of human-caused climate change if drastic efforts are not adopted to slash greenhouse gas emissions. For the first time, the International Panel on Climate Change formally endorsed a limit on emissions, saying no more than one trillion tons of carbon can be burned if humanity hopes to avoid a global temperature increase of more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Already, more than half that amount has been emitted since the Industrial Revolution, and the world is on pace to burn its trillionth ton of carbon in less than three decades. The IPCC expressed even more certainty than ever before that humans are responsible for global warming, saying there is a 95 to 100 percent chance most warming in recent decades has been caused by humans.
Court Upholds 50-Year Prison Term for Charles Taylor
An international appeals court has upheld a 50-year prison sentence for former Liberian president Charles Taylor for war crimes during the civil war in Sierra Leone. Taylor was found guilty last year of overseeing crimes including murder, rape, sexual slavery and drafting child soldiers. He was the first African head of state to be found guilty in an international court and the first head of state convicted since World War II. U.S. officials have previously confirmed Taylor worked for the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies during his emergence as a warlord in the 1980s.